State & Region
Blue Mountain Eagle
Wednesday, November 23, 2016
Forecast: Oregon
economy slowing down
DIVIDE
Continued from Page A1
Portlandia pie in the sky BS.”
“Enjoy the Trump admin-
istration, Portland, your res-
idents are the reason Repub-
licans are running the show.”
By Claire Withycombe
Capital Bureau
Urban ‘mindbenders’
Eastern Washington cat-
tle rancher Len McIrvin said
city residents are controlled
by the “mindbenders” of the
media, Hollywood and con-
ventional politics and don’t
realize what’s going on in the
“heartland.”
“Waters of the U.S.” pro-
posals, the Endangered Spe-
cies Act, clean air and clear
water rules and “safety” laws
that restrict truckers’ hours
are examples of the “terrible
burden” placed on producers,
he said.
McIrvin said wolves,
which spread into Oregon
and Washington after being
reintroduced in Idaho under
federal wildlife policy, have
killed an estimated 70 head
of his cattle this year.
“Wolves do what wolves
do, but the regulations say
I can’t protect my cattle,”
he said. “These regulations
are bringing us down to our
knees.”
Breese, the Central Ore-
gon landowner, said he lis-
tens to Oregon Public Broad-
casting, public radio, and is
alarmed by what seems an
“agenda” to “save the forests
and preserve things.” Urban
residents don’t understand
the land needs to be man-
aged, he said.
City people want the latest
consumer items to be avail-
able at stores, but oppose the
use of fossil fuels needed by
delivery trucks, he said.
“They’ve got a job where
they can ride a bicycle to
work,” he said. “Some of us
have got to have four-wheel
drive with a trailer and hors-
es behind.
“It’s hard to get your
voice heard,” Breese said.
John Breese
Geoff Horning
“If you go to the Legislature,
you get three minutes. You
drive three hours, get three
minutes (to testify), and it’s
three hours back.”
Breese said it was “cast
in stone“ that Oregon, Wash-
ington and California would
align with Hillary Clinton,
and he was pleased Trump
won enough states elsewhere
to claim the presidency.
Trump may loosen natural
resource restrictions, appoint
some conservative judges
and slow down the Environ-
mental Protection Agency, he
said.
He doesn’t understand
why Trump opponents took
to the streets to protest the
result. Portland endured six
nights of noisy marches. Po-
lice declared the first night’s
march a riot as alleged anar-
chists in the crowd smashed
windows and threw objects
at officers. A Toyota dealer-
ship alone sustained an esti-
mated $200,000 damage, and
police arrested at least 113
people over several days.
“If Hillary would have
won, we wouldn’t have been
rioting in our alfalfa fields,”
Breese said.
Conservation Northwest, said
an overwhelming majority of
Americans favor a healthy en-
vironment that provides clean
air, clean water and abundant
wildlife. He said his group
collaborates with loggers and
ranchers to find a balance be-
tween timber harvests, graz-
ing, wolf protection and an-
cient forests.
“I don’t know if that’s
enough to bridge the gap that
exists in America,” he said. “I
know we’re committed to do-
ing our part.
“If the core of environ-
mental laws went away,
would people in the timber
and ag communities that have
collaborated, would they still
be with us?” Friedman said.
“I don’t know. I want to be-
lieve most would.”
Surprised the out-of-
touch
Hanson, the conservative
scholar, wrote in a post-elec-
tion Los Angeles Times col-
umn that Trump’s win sur-
prised the out-of-touch.
“But was it so hard to
imagine that a third-gen-
eration Mexican American
might fear — more so than
the gated residents of Mali-
bu and Santa Monica — the
impact of illegal immigration
on his neighborhood school
or community? Or that an
out of work lathe operator
was not a big fan of global-
ization?”
The divide prevails, but
some continue casting lines to
the other side.
Dan Arp, dean of Oregon
State University’s College of
Agricultural Sciences, often
says food is “the handshake
between urban and rural.”
Friedman, executive di-
rector of the Seattle-based
Trump listened
Russ Vaagen, who rep-
resents the third-generation
of family ownership in Vaa-
gen Brothers Lumber Inc.,
of Colville, Washington, said
Trump won because he ap-
peared willing to listen to ru-
ral concerns.
Vaagen voted for Trump
— “I’m not ashamed of it,
over 60 million people did”
— but serves on the board
of directors for Sustainable
Northwest, a Portland non-
profit that seeks collabo-
ration on natural resource
issues.
“This election was about
rural America standing up and
wanting to be heard,” he said.
Geoff Horning, executive
director of Oregon Aglink, an
advocacy group, said people
in agriculture have to con-
tinue explaining themselves
and their practices to urban-
ites. Even residents of liber-
al hotbeds like Portland and
Eugene are “just people,”
he said. “They would be re-
ally supportive if they knew
more.
“If I’ve taken anything
out of this election it’s that
sometimes when things
look the darkest is when
opportunity strikes,” Horn-
ing said. “Maybe this is
the thing that sparks a real
conversation.”
SALEM — Overall,
Oregon’s economy is en-
countering an economic
slowdown, state economists
said during a quarterly rev-
enue and economic fore-
cast presentation to legis-
lative revenue committees
Wednesday.
While rates of job growth
are slowing, that’s not nec-
essarily bad news, said state
economist Mark McMullen,
noting that high growth rates
measured in previous recent
We would like to thank Tia and Joe
Barrietua at The Outpost and Carrie
and Jim Bellinger of John Day True
Value for the nice meal they provided
to the Veterans on Veterans Day.
Their generosity is greatly
appreciated. It is very touching to see
the outpour of respect for the
veterans of our community that have
served this wonderful nation.
Income for Oregonians
with the lowest 20 percent of
incomes and middle 20 per-
cent of incomes are improv-
ing, although they’ve not
reached pre-recession levels.
McMullen noted that last
week’s election of Donald J.
Trump as president presented
a “wild card”: the economist
said it is too early to tell how
the president-elect’s specific
policies could impact the na-
tional and state economies.
Trump promised tax cuts
as well as major infrastruc-
ture investments during the
campaign.
USDA official named to lead ODA
By Mateusz Perkowski
Capital Bureau
SALEM — A USDA offi-
cial, Alexis Taylor, has been
nominated to head the Ore-
gon Department of Agricul-
ture, replacing former direc-
tor Katy Coba.
Taylor is the USDA’s dep-
uty under secretary for farm
and foreign agriculture ser-
vices and will begin serving
as ODA director on Jan. 23,
once confirmed by the Ore-
gon Senate.
Lisa Hanson, ODA’s dep-
uty director, was a finalist for
the position and has served as
the agency’s interim director
since Coba left in October to
lead the state’s Department
of Administrative Services.
In her position at USDA,
Taylor was charged with
advocating for internation-
al trade policies that benefit
U.S. agriculture and led the
agency’s Women in Agricul-
ture Initiative, which sup-
ports female farmers.
Prior to the USDA, she
negotiated provisions that
ended up in the 2008 and
2014 farm bills as a legisla-
tive adviser to congressional
committees.
A graduate of Iowa State
University, Taylor was raised
on an Iowa farm and served
in the U.S. Army Reserve for
eight years, including a tour
in Iraq.
When Coba announced
she was leaving ODA, eight
of Oregon’s agriculture in-
dustry groups wrote a letter
to Gov. Kate Brown, urging
her to install Hanson as the
permanent agency chief.
However, the Oregon
Farm Bureau has welcomed
the news of Taylor’s appoint-
ment, citing her “track record
of success” at the USDA.
“We believe Ms. Taylor’s
experience at a high level in
Washington, D.C. gives here
the background she needs to
be successful in helping the
industry recognize and over-
come its challenges in Or-
egon,” OFB said in a state-
ment.
Courtesy of the office of Gov. Kate
Brown
Alexis Taylor has been
appointed Director of
the Oregon Department
of Agriculture.
OREGON CAPITAL
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MOANA PG
Disney Animation. A young woman
sets sail for a fabled island.
FRI & SAT
(12:45) (4:10) 7:10 9:45
SUNDAY
(12:45) (4:10) 7:10 9:35
MON - THURS (12:45) (4:10) 7:10 9:35
ALLIED R
Brad Pitt. The relationship between an
intelligence officer and his wife is
tested by the pressures of war.
FRI & SAT
(12:45) (4:00) 7:00 9:40
SUNDAY
(12:45) (4:00) 7:00 9:35
MON - THURS (12:45) (4:10) 7:00 9:35
FANTASTIC BEASTS & WHERE
TO FIND THEM PG-13
The adventures of writer Newt Scamander
in New York’s secret community of
witches and wizards seventy years before
Harry Potter reads his book in school.
FRI & SAT
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Thank You
assessments of Oregon’s
economy were not sustain-
able.
Oregon still outpaces
most other states in terms of
employment growth.
As employment im-
proves, poverty rates may
also start to improve, and
caseloads for state services
may also decrease, though
such changes are only start-
ing to take root.
State economists have
noted in the past that eco-
nomic improvements also
take longer to manifest in the
state’s rural communities.
$9 Adult, $7 Senior (60+), Youth
541-676-9158 - Heppner
541-384-2801 - Condon
We welcome the opportunity to visit with
you about our services!
Heppner & & Condon
Heppner
Condon
04848
Islands of blue
It’s no revelation the West
Coast election map looks like
small islands of Democrat
blue surrounded by seas of
Republican red, with the
votes cast in heavily popu-
lated blue cities dominating
those from rural areas.
The Atlantic magazine
described it after President
Obama’s re-election in 2012:
“The new political divide is
a stark division between cit-
ies and what remains of the
countryside.”
Every major U.S. city has
a different outlook than the
less-populous areas closest
to it, the magazine declared.
“Because winning a
state’s electoral votes re-
quires only a simple major-
ity, a single city can change
the entire game,” The Atlan-
tic concluded.
Conservative scholar Vic-
tor Davis Hanson said in a
2015 column in the Los An-
geles Times that most “hot
button” issues — abortion,
gun control, same-sex mar-
riage, defense spending —
“break along rural or urban
lines.”
Some wonder if the elec-
tion might have sundered any
connection that remained be-
tween the two.
A9
Warren and Kay Friedrich
Andrew L Radinovich
Both Warren Friedrich and Andrew
Radinovich served in the US Navy
04835
Wishing you all the
makings of a happy
Thanksgiving.
THE GRANT COUNTY CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
invites you to shop at home and support our local merchants.
Create Jobs
Shop Local
Better Education
Local Businesses
Stronger Local Economy
Sally Knowles
Broker, GRI
Office:
Babette Larson
Lori Hickerson
Broker, GRI
Office:
Principal Broker, GRI
Office:
Grant County Greenbacks keep 100% of your money at home. Purchase them at the Grant County
Chamber of Commerce. They come in denominations of $5, $15 and $25 and may be redeemed at all
Grant County businesses who are Chamber members.
Thanks to LCAC for EOCCO, Len’s Drug and Subway, School Dist #3, Muzzy 123 and City of John Day for
your recent purchase! You are helping Grant County businesses by empowering your clients and
employees to Shop Local!
D UKE W ARNER R EALTY
• www
Grant County Chamber of Commerce
301 W. Main St. • John Day, OR 97845
02940
Your Professional Real Estate Choice in Grant County
Watch for additional members each week
541.575.0547
www.gcoregonlive.com
04858